


Water over the Bridge

by misura



Category: The Daevabad Trilogy - S. A. Chakraborty
Genre: Gen, Jossed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-22 06:52:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17055212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: Ali and Nahri try to teach Dara how to swim.





	Water over the Bridge

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sixthlight](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sixthlight/gifts).



"I hate you," Dara said, scowling ferociously. "Both of you."

Nahri grinned. Ali wondered if he was the only one noticing the way her wet clothes were clinging to her body, giving him a rather good idea of what she'd look like without them.

_When a man and a woman are alone in a room, their third companion is the devil._ Clearly, the same applied when a man and a woman were standing in the shallow part of a perfectly ordinary lake.

"Swimming isn't that hard, Dara. And it's a useful skill."

Ali knew better than to open his mouth. He knew that plenty, if not most, djinn found swimming not at all useful, even distasteful and a little perverse. Ali's own willingness to do so was the exception, not the rule.

_Of course, if I'd died and been enslaved for centuries after some ifrit had drowned me, I might not be too keen on volunteering to go anywhere near water again, either._ Yet here they were.

"Come on. Just try it. Who knows, you might have fun," Nahri coaxed.

Ali didn't think _that_ argument would convince Dara. Dara's idea of fun probably involved killing people. The only times Ali had seen him smile was when Nahri smiled at him.

And sure, Ali liked it when Nahri smiled at _him_ , too, but it wasn't as if he was unable to be happy on his own, the way Dara seemed to.

"We are going on a sea voyage, you know," Ali said. "What if one of us falls overboard and we need you to rescue us?" Not that Ali felt at all convinced Dara would lift so much as a finger to save _his_ life.

"I don't need to be able to swim to keep Nahri safe," Dara said.

Ali got a sudden vision of Dara parting the sea, or maybe of evaporating it in its entirety, turning it into a desert. _And then centuries from the present, scholars will be puzzling over all these ship wrecks they find, half-buried in the sand._

"Well, you do need to be able to swim to keep up with me." Nahri chuckled.

Ali blushed. He wondered if Nahri knew how ... inviting she sounded. What her tone of voice and the sight of her body were doing to him - and to Dara, too, he suspected.

"Nahri." Dara almost sounded pleading.

"Just try. That's all I'm asking," Nahri said. "If you can't, you can't. But I refuse to accept you not even trying. That's not the Dara we know and love, is it, Zaydi?"

Ali didn't think addressing him by the name of the man who had once been Dara's most hated enemy would improve the situation or Dara's temper. On the other hand, while Ali very much enjoyed travelling the human world and even going on a sea voyage, on a real human ship, he knew that it couldn't last forever. Sooner or later, they'd have to go back.

If Ali had anything to say about it, it would be later. _A lot later._

"Your Zaydi has a funny way of showing his love," Dara grumbled.

Ali smirked. Moments like these, with Nahri there to lighten the mood, he could almost forget that Dara was a monster. _Of course, it might be my own family that made him that way._

"If you think a kiss or a hug might help," he said. "Or maybe I could promise to buy you a sweet?"

Dara might not be able to swim, but he knew perfectly well how to summon a wave. In a moment, Ali was drenched to the bone.

Nahri laughed and splashed some water in Dara's direction in retaliation. Ali supposed he should feel grateful that at least she'd done _something_ to avenge him, even if she lacked the ability to pay Dara back in kind.

_I don't. I could take up this entire lake and dump it on his head. I COULD MAKE HIS FIRST DROWNING SEEM LIKE A SWEET DREAM._ Ali gulped and stumbled back, horrified.

Nahri didn't appear to notice anything amiss. Dara gave him a sharp look, though, as if he too had heard the voice in Ali's head. The voice Ali had thought he'd left behind in Daevabad.

"Very well," Dara said, his voice a little husky. "As my Nahid wishes. Could you show me again how I should hold my body?"

"I can - " Ali forced his body to move, his mouth to smile. His hands to reach for Dara's body, gentle and patient as a teacher's should be. He realized that he missed his students, few as they had been. Teaching Dara how to swim might not compare to teaching a group of youngsters how markets worked, but it was something, at least. "Please. Let me."

The look Dara gave him made it clear that Ali was not the teacher Dara'd hoped would put his hands on him. Ali made sure to keep smiling. As long as he didn't think too much about who Dara was and what Dara had done, it wasn't that hard. Even for a daeva, Dara was extremely good-looking.

Dara might not have Nahri's quickness of mind or easy smile, but Ali couldn't deny the attractiveness of Dara's body.

"Don't get any ideas, sand fly," Dara muttered, low enough for Nahri not to overhear.

"I'm not the one practically begging for someone to touch me," Ali whispered back, hot with embarrassment at Dara being able to read him so easily.

"Come on!" Nahri shouted. She'd already moved to the deeper part of the lake. "Are you boys or men?"

Dara hissed something under his breath.

Ali smiled at him. "Do you feel up to a race, or would you like some more time to practice?"

"Don't challenge me, brat. You'll lose," Dara said.

"Words are cheap. Prove it," Ali challenged, his muscles tensing. He might not be Dara's equal with a zulfiqar, but here in the water, he felt pretty confident of his superiority.

"As you wish," Dara said, and jumped.

 

(To give Dara credit, he tried. Ali could admit to being impressed by that much, at least.)

(Even so, he felt more than a little smug at looking into Dara's eyes later that evening, and reminding himself of his victory.)


End file.
